Lana Del Rey stops the rain for kisses, selfies and a lust for life at Øya Festival 2017

“It’s going to rain all day tomorrow, but we’re going to have fun,” Lana Del Rey told fans via Instagram on the eve of returning to Oslo for her headline set at Øya Festival 2017. But when morning broke and the sky cracked open, only summertime sadness seemed likely.

Whether it was Del Rey’s black magic and witchcraft, we don’t know, but in a totally unfeasible act of serendipity, the heavens relented just as the lights dimmed for Lana’s main stage entrance.

“We’ve been waiting so long to back,” she said with a smile, “Well done for making it through the rain.”

With just a wink, a twirl, or the blow of a kiss, Lana had her fans howling in a fevered frenzy. And what followed was one of the finest festival headline performances that summer 2017 has seen so far.

Whether a husky whisper or at the absolute peak of her vocal powers, Lana’s delivery was astounding. Combined with the awesome blues-rock tour de force of her backing band and the Americana imagery of her production, her pop-noir myth and vision came into technicolour full bloom on the main stage.

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‘Shades Of Cool’ had Tøyenpark swooning in its hazy waltz, ‘Love’ landed like a classic, and the fervour saved for ‘Born To Die’, ‘Ultraviolence’ and ‘Video Games’ had the crowd in such full voice that Lana turned the mic to face them. But not only were the Øya crowd her backing choir, she treated them like friends too.

There was the occasional wink, nod and wave to the particularly devout fans on the first few rows, but when she descended the stage to sign men’s chests, accept gifts, take selfies, hand out kisses and make grown weep, the symbiotic waves of love make the cult of Lana made a lot more sense. Through her words, her music and her gestures, she gave the love back.

Lana Del Rey played:

Body Electric
Cherry
Shades of Cool
Blue Jeans
Born to Die
White Mustang
Music to Watch Boys To
Ultraviolence
Change
Ride
Love
Video Games
Cruel World
Off to the Races